International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 6 No.

7 July 2018

The Impact of Visual Arts in Students’ Academic Performance

Jovita F. Punzalan

Malolos City, Bulacan, Philippines, 3000

mariajovie@yahoo.co.uk

0917 276 10 86

Abstract

Arts have long been considered part of the human affective experience and needed by our young
people as a medium for safe expression, communication, exploration, imagination, cultural and
historical understanding. Thus, the challenge for Visual Arts integration should not focus only on a
particular art discipline alone like Humanities (Art Appreciation) somewhat it should extend across
the curriculum. The major problem of this study was to assess the impact of visual art on the
performance of the students from the College of Education, Bulacan State University. The study
made use of experimental research design. Results of the study revealed that significant difference
exists in the posttest performances of the experimental and control groups, in other words, the group
who utilized the visual arts in studying art appreciation recorded significantly helps performance
than those who used the traditional lecture-discussion method. Moreover, further analysis of data
suggested that using visual arts in different learning areas encourages students to participate and this
will develop their confidence and advantage in the learning process. Some pedagogical implications
were drawn based on the findings of the study.

Introduction:
Globalization necessitates people from different continents to form connections despite
having different norms and culture. It is imperative for the people of every country to understand
one another along with their standards, and traditions. A way to achieve this understanding is
through arts education.
Through the arts education, people may learn to address and embrace diversity, present
emotions and differentiate values in the world. Arts education allows schools to provide the students
with knowledge of ethics, see social realities and understand their rights and responsibilities.

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Jolley (2016) in his article "The Importance of Arts Education" recapped that arts education
promotes some benefits in a variety of ways. Some of the advantages of arts education are:
developing the students' imagination and creativity; allowing them to understand and express their
feelings and ideas; aiding them to understand and visualize other core subjects; helping them to
observe the world around them; supporting them in the decisions- making and in solving problems;
and in developing values such as concentration and persistence.
Ochshorn (2016) asserted that Arts Education is important because it improves performance.
She claimed that it improved learning skills, school attendance, critical thinking skills and
creativity. A good arts education is built on and reflects recognition of the specific and unique way
that the arts shape people's thinking and their lives. Eisner, (2013).
The noteworthiness of art is immeasurable and innumerable. Booth, D. (2016) asserted that
the techniques are ways of learning, of exploring, of responding, of revealing and demonstrating, of
imagining, and of depicting and making meaning. They belong to the school curriculum as they
belong in the minds and hearts of lifelong learners.
For this matter, it is essential to conduct a study on how the Filipino students perceive the
arts about their academic performance. This study aims to look into the respondents' perceptions
and attitudes about visual arts as predictors in the students' academic success. Many teachers
integrate visual arts into other content areas. Its inception in the elementary curriculum, arts
education positively benefits students' learning. Based on analysis of some relevant research
literature, findings revealed that visuals positively impact students' behavior, engagement creativity,
and academic performance.
Education has been conceived as a continuing process of adjustment and experience. In the
21st century, one of the goals of education is to open new windows that would make the skills and
standards relevant to the Digital Age learners. It means developing students' knowledge and higher-
order skills; creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. In line with this goal,
the Commission of Higher Education (CHED) sets an aim to upgrade the quality of Higher
Education continuously; its programs and system to be at par with international standards. Higher
educational institutions' faculties are advised to research in line with the goals of the Commission
on Higher Education Research. Investigating the effective utilization of visual arts in teaching
Humanities (Art Appreciation) in the tertiary education is a reasonable undertaking, hence, this
study.
The primary focus of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of integrating or using
visual arts in the teaching and learning Humanities (Art Appreciation).
The study restricted its coverage to the 1st year Bachelor of Elementary Education Students
major in General Education of College of Education – Bulacan State University School Year 2017 -
2018 only. From the total population of 100 First Year students enrolled in the Humanities (Art
Appreciation) course, 44 will constitute the sampling. The primary purpose was to identify the
impact of visual arts or art integration in the students' academic performance.
This procedure guarantees that all subjects have the same chance of being in the
experimental or control group. The pretest-posttest control group design included pre and post-
testing the subjects to measure the effectiveness of visual arts or art integration in the students'

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academic achievement. The analysis of the effectiveness was done through comparison of pre-oral
and post oral communication skills results. The significance of differences was tested using the t –
the test of correlated mean procedures.

Discussion:
Eisner, E (2017) coined the term "cognitive pluralism" as among the orientations to the
curriculum. This perspective highlights the idea that students should be afforded opportunities to
learn and communicate their understandings through various forms of representation. Lowenfeld
(2005) published the book "Creative and Mental Growth" that describes the characteristics of child
art at each stage of development and prescribes appropriate types of art media and activities for
each age. His views of child art were grounded in constructs drawn from two sources. One was the
psychoanalytic school of psychology in which evidence of aesthetic, social, physical, intellectual,
and emotional growth is reflected in the art of children. The second was the concept of stages of
growth in art, which originated in German and Austrian sources.
Art Integration. According to Efland (2002), arts have long been considered part of the
human affective experience. One reason proponents cite for integrating the skills with academic
curricula is the perception that works of art can engage the students emotionally with the curricula
(Greene, 2001; Eisner, 2002; Kindler, 1997). Elkins (2001) agreed that by merely looking at
paintings humans one might be overwhelmed by emotions. In one of the arguments from the
Platonic tradition, art objects were thought of as models, imitations of nature, used to help humans
understand abstract concepts. More significantly, in the study of Gardner's ( 2006, 2007), on the
Theory of Multiple Intelligence, Golemanm's (2006) work and Eisner's (2002) perspective on
aesthetics will guide the philosophy of arts integration across the curriculum. The teachers serve as
the model and will initiate the teaching process of art integration using Multiple Intelligences,
Emotional Intelligences, and aesthetic understanding of the artistic process.
Art as a Learning Process. In the study of Lampert (2006), there have been a few studies
focusing on creativity and critical thinking at the university level that provide a foundation for
further research. An assessment of the techniques in public universities establishes that learning in
the arts exerts its most significant effect on truth-seeking, critical thinking maturity, and open-
mindedness. In a landmark study by Simon & Hicks (2006), they concluded that hearts have the
ability to enrich individuals of different ages and varying achievement levels because "the creative
arts do not discriminate" They also revealed that the skills broaden the constructs of a formal
education and boost the imagination and discover new ways of understanding especially for those
students who are economically disadvantaged and academically struggling.
Arts Education and Brain Function. Findings in the study of Goleman (2006) showed that
there are two kinds of intelligence: intellectual (left brained) and emotional (right brained) which
comprise the learning process of the individual. Emotional intelligence skills are synergistic with
those of cognition, and top performers possess both. Emotional Intelligence is the ability to
"monitor and regulate one's own and others' feelings, and to use emotions to guide thought and
action." Emotional Intelligence encompasses five characteristics and abilities: (1) Self-Awareness.
Knowing feelings and using them to guide decision making. (2) Self-Regulation. Handling

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feelings, so they enhance rather than interfere with the task at hand. (3) Motivation. Using
preferences to move and guide one towards goals. (4) Empathy. Recognizing feelings in others and
tuning into their verbal and nonverbal cues. (5) Social Skills. Handling emotions in relationship
interaction, conflict resolution, and negotiations.
Social, Physical and Cognitive Development
According to Wooten (2008) passion for education emanates from the motivation of
students through art education. The role of art played a significant role for the students for the
sustenance of that passion. Gazziniga (2008) cited the result of Dana Arts and Cognition
Consortium in 2008 from the reported findings from neuro-scientific regarding the possible causal
relationship between art exposure and the capacity of the brain in learning other cognitive domain.
Purposes of Art in Education
According to Galvez (2018) learners respond to information differently. Thus, it is often
to the advantage of the teachers to use many different formats and modes to teach the
subject matter of a lesson. Numerous authors like Caldwell and Vaughan (2012), Dwyer (2011),
Hartle (2015), Melnick, Whitmer and Strickland (2011) and Reeves (2007) noted that art education
deserve an extraordinary part in the heart of education curriculum because of its numerous counts
regarding its benefits mainly in reasoning and critical thinking. He likewise said that art education
as one of the main component of greater heights for academic instruction. Besides Melnick (2011)
revealed many cognitive advantages from art education like higher academic achievement,
creativity, imagination, self-expression, rouses the mind of students and stimulates the brain. He
suggested that art education as a future model for useful educational hopes and practices. Expert
researcher Eisner (2000) assumed four listed four effects or findings from art education experience.
Students learn the process of putting ideas and expressions into a form or creation.
Students gain greater perceptual abilities and become more analytical.
Students see interconnectedness between arts, culture, and history.
Students demonstrate perseverance through ambiguity.
Art as Teaching Method. Children do learn well through play and experimentation, and
technique can be used to encourage this learning across all curriculum areas. Using visual arts in
different learning areas helps students to participate, and this will develop their confidence. As they
enjoy doing artwork, their knowledge and abilities also escalate. Each student may respond well to
the individualization of learning. Arts can be used in other learning areas such as in drawing
activities; learning science concepts through art (light, colors and color mixing, etc); learning
mathematical concepts through art (space, perspective, angles, shapes, etc); learning society and
environment concepts through art and crafts (dress, lifestyles, housing, etc); and some assessment
through technique rather than other methods such as tests. Virtually any subject can be enhanced.

Kinds of Visual Arts Drawing

Painting. It is often called the most important form of visual art. It is about putting colors on
a canvas or a wall. Paintings became important in ancient Egypt, where tombs of pharaohs were
covered with scenes of everyday Egyptian life.

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Printmaking. Printmaking is art that is made by covering a plate with ink and pressing it on
the surface of another object. Today prints are mostly produced on paper today, but initially, they
were pushed onto the cloth or other purposes.
Photography. Photography is making pictures by letting light through the lenses of a
camera onto a film. In analog photography, the fire was recorded onto a movie, which had to be
chemically developed. Images could then be printed on special paper. Today most photography is
digital. Cameras have no documentary; the images are recorded onto silicon chips.
Computer Art. Today, art is no longer limited to brushes, paint, and pencils. In the last few
decades, artists have been working with computers to capture images and change them.
Sculpture. Sculptures are three-dimensional pieces of art that are created by shaping various
kinds of material. Among the most popular are stone, steel, plastic, ceramics, and wood. The
sculpture is often referred to as plastic arts.
The researcher utilized the experimental approach, the pretest-posttest correct – control
group design in determining the effectiveness of using visual arts on the students' academic
performance. The researcher formulated a teacher–made test based on the following topics;
Introduction to Humanities (which includes Humanities, Art, Art Appreciation, Imagination,
Creativity, Expression, Assumption of Art, Art and Experience, Art and Nature, Subject of Art,
Sources of Art, Importance of Art, Forms of Art and Classification of Art). Functions of Art,
Philosophical Importance of Art and Artist and Artisan and Elements and Principles of Art.
The result were obtained through Mean and Standard deviation procedures from the
performances of the members of the experimental and control groups using the following sampling
distributions. The t – test for correlated means was used in testing the significance of the differences
in the performance of the experimental and control groups using the mean of the experimental and
control groups, standard error of the mean, and standard deviation.

Conclusions:
In the light of the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:
1. It was concluded that no significant IQ and age differences exists between the
experimental and control groups in terms of IQ and age.
2. Generally, no significant difference exists in the pretest scores of the experimental
and control groups.
3. It may be concluded that the use of visual arts or art integration was effective. An
active participation from the experimental group regarding various activities was
outstanding. The overall findings revealed the advantage of art integration and the
use of visual arts in learning process of the students. The traditional lecture-
Discussion method used in the control group revealed a less active participation and
difficulty in the learning process.
4. It may be safely stated that significant difference exist in the posttest performances
of the experimental and control groups, in other words, the group who utilized the
visual arts in studying art appreciation recorded significantly helps performance than
those who used the traditional lecture discussion method.

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The null hypothesis that there was no significant difference exist in the posttest
scores of the experimental and control group has been rejected.
5. Using visual arts in different learning areas encourages students to participate and
this will develop their confidence and advantage in learning process.

Recommendations:
The conclusions recommended the following:
1. The teachers are challenged to use visual arts or arts integration and creative teaching
strategies in conducting visual arts related activities.
2. The Philosophy and Humanities department must ensure the continuous programs
related to visual art integration and use of visual arts in teaching Humanities (Art
Appreciation)
3. That the future researchers conduct experimental investigations on the impact of
visual arts or art integration in the academic performance of the students.

Teachers in the field of other disciplines like Math and Geometry, Science, English the like
may implement or use art integration based from the findings that arts allow creation from
understanding and deepened engagement with a topic.

4. Teachers can help students having difficulty to learn via traditional methods through
the introduction of visual arts. Visual arts can be an interesting tool for learning that
can give students a point of reference for future learning.

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